Books I Am Looking Forward To Reading This Summer

What Is On Your Summer Reading List?

I have to be honest, I have not been able to get to my summer reading list as often as I would like. I love reading, it is silly that I am not doing it more often.

We often use time as an excuse as to why we haven’t picked up a book in awhile. Or, I should say that is my excuse. But in truth, there are plenty of times I could be reading instead of watching TV, or checking my social media accounts.

Here is my summer reading list. I could have easily added a lot more, but I didn’t want to overwhelm. I want to actually get to the books on this list, not make it impossible to accomplish.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Some of the books on this list are written by a couple of my favorite authors, while others have been recommended to me from dear friends or Amazon. There is a bit of a range from fantasy, to historical fiction, and mystery/ suspense.

I hope you find one or two on this list that you like. If you do, let me know what you think. Also, please do share any recommendations you have in the comments below, we can never have enough.

Neil Gaiman is a favorite author of mine. I love his stories and cannot wait to read this book. Oh and I am looking forward to finally getting to watch the Starz TV American Gods, based off his book of the same title. The book is fantastic, so I can only assume the show will be too. Back to this book at hand though. Here it is summarized from an editorial reviewer on Amazon.

An Amazon Best Book of the Month, June 2013: Neil Gaiman’s intent was simple: to write a short story. What he ended up with instead was The Ocean at the of the Lane–his first adult novel since Anansi Boys came out in 2005, and a narrative so thoughtful and thrilling that it’s as difficult to stop reading as it was for Gaiman to stop writing. Forty years ago, our narrator, who was then a seven-year-old boy, unwittingly discovered a neighboring family’s supernatural secret. What happens next is an imaginative romp through otherwordly adventure that could only come from Gaiman’s magical mind. Childhood innocence is tested and transcended as we see what getting between ancient, mystic forces can cost, as well as what can be gained from the power of true friendship. The result is a captivating tale that is equal parts sweet, sad, and spooky. —Robin A. Rothman

I know, I feel like I am really late to the boat on this one, but better late than never right? Now a Hulu original TV series it has gained a new found following. I haven’t seen the show yet, I prefer to read the book first. Here is how it is summarized on Amazon –

The Handmaid’s Tale is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States and is now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to, and going beyond, the repressive intolerance of the original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for the women and men in its population.

The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose, by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals to us the dark corners behind the establishment’s calm facade, as certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical conclusions. The Handmaid’s Tale is funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing. It is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and a tour de force. It is Margaret Atwood at her best.

There is something so powerful about a story that is based on truth. My family is also Italian, my father immigrated, so learning a bit of Italian history during the time of the Nazi regime intrigues me. Here is Amazon’s summary –

An Amazon Charts Most Read and Most Sold book.

Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, USA Today bestseller Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours.

Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian teenager—obsessed with music, food, and girls—but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior.

In an attempt to protect him, Pino’s parents force him to enlist as a German soldier—a move they think will keep him out of combat. But after Pino is injured, he is recruited at the tender age of eighteen to become the personal driver for Adolf Hitler’s left hand in Italy, General Hans Leyers, one of the Third Reich’s most mysterious and powerful commanders.

Now, with the opportunity to spy for the Allies inside the German High Command, Pino endures the horrors of the war and the Nazi occupation by fighting in secret, his courage bolstered by his love for Anna and for the life he dreams they will one day share.

Fans of All the Light We Cannot See, The Nightingale, and Unbroken will enjoy this riveting saga of history, suspense, and love.

I came across this book when browsing Amazon’s best seller lists. The title originally caught my eye and then the description sold me. Listed as psychological literature and fiction I was easily on board. Here is Amazon’s description –

An Amazon Charts bestseller.

You want to know what the worst thing is? It’s not the embarrassment, or the looks on people’s faces when I tell them what happened. It isn’t the pain of him not being there—loneliness is manageable. The worst thing is not knowing why.

When Justin walks out on Alice on their honeymoon, with no explanation apart from a cryptic note, Alice is left alone and bewildered, her life in pieces.

Then she meets Evelyn, a visitor to the gallery where she works. It’s a seemingly chance encounter, but Alice gradually learns that Evelyn has motives, and a heartbreaking story, of her own. And that story has haunting parallels with Alice’s life.

As Alice delves into the mystery of why Justin left her, the questions are obvious. But the answers may lie in the most unlikely of places…

Paranormal, mystery, suspense, yes! These are elements I enjoy in a good book. I am a fan of sci-fiction as well as fantasy, and this one looks to fit the bill perfectly. Here is the description :

Award-winning science-fiction mastermind Kenneth Johnson blends epic adventure, romance, and evocative drama into an intense supernatural thriller rooted in one of the great untold legends of human history.

New York City, New Year’s weekend, 2001. Jillian Guthrie, a troubled young journalist, stumbles onto a tantalizing mystery: the same man, unaged, stands alongside Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, and Gandhi in three different photographs spanning eighty-five years of history.

In another part of town, Will—an enigmatic thirty-three-year-old of immense charm, wit, and intelligence—looks forward to the new year with hope and trepidation. Haunted by his secret past and shadowed by a dangerous stranger, he finds himself the object of an intense manhunt spearheaded by an ambitious Vatican emissary and an elderly former UN envoy named Hanna.

During the next forty-eight hours, a catastrophic event unites Will, Jillian, and Hanna—and puts them in the crosshairs of a centuries-old international conspiracy. Together, the three must unravel an ancient curse that stretches back two millennia and beyond, and face a primal evil that threatens their lives and thousands more.

What would a summer reading list be with out a little occult? Stephen King has long been one of my all time favorite authors. I enjoy reading anything he writes. I am unfamiliar with Richard Chizmar, but he is writing with King so I feel pretty confident. Enjoy the Amazon description :

The little town of Castle Rock, Maine has witnessed some strange events and unusual visitors over the years, but there is one story that has never been told… until now.

There are three ways up to Castle View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Road, and the Suicide Stairs. Every day in the summer of 1974 twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson has taken the stairs, which are held by strong (if time-rusted) iron bolts and zig-zag up the cliffside.

At the top of the stairs, Gwendy catches her breath and listens to the shouts of the kids on the playground. From a bit farther away comes the chink of an aluminum bat hitting a baseball as the Senior League kids practice for the Labor Day charity game.

One day, a stranger calls to Gwendy: “Hey, girl. Come on over here for a bit. We ought to palaver, you and me.”

On a bench in the shade sits a man in black jeans, a black coat like for a suit, and a white shirt unbuttoned at the top. On his head is a small neat black hat. The time will come when Gwendy has nightmares about that hat…

Journey back to Castle Rock again in this chilling new novella by Stephen King, bestselling author of The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, and Richard Chizmar, award-winning author of A Long December. This book will be a Cemetery Dance Publications exclusive with no other editions currently planned anywhere in the world!

This book has been recommended to me by a dear friend. I fully trust her opinion and taste in books. I have heard great things about Barbara Kingsolver and am glad I am finally going to read one of her works. Here is the description of the book on Amazon:

Barbara Kingsolver’s fifth novel is a hymn to wildness that celebrates the prodigal spirit of human nature, and of nature itself. It weaves together three stories of human love within a larger tapestry of lives amid the mountains and farms of southern Appalachia. Over the course of one humid summer, this novel’s intriguing protagonists face disparate predicaments but find connections to one another and to the flora and fauna with which they necessarily share a place.

I am excited about my summer reading list I feel like it is nice and rounded, offering a great variety. From biographical to magical to contemporary it is going to be a colorful summer of words for me.